Expansion-trap



(No Model.)

P.- G. BOTSFORD. EXPANSION TRAP.

No. 416,557. Patented Dec. 3, 1889. $57.1

7 BY ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK G. BOTSFOR D, ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA.

EXPANSION-TRAP.

4 SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 416,557, dated December 3, 1889.

Application filed February 21, 1889. Serial No. 300,689. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that LFREDERIOK G. BOTSFORD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Erie, in the county of Erie and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Expansion-Traps; and I do declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a representation of a longitudinal section of the expansion-trap. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view.

This invention has relation to expansiontraps mainly designed for use in connection with steam-heating pipes; and it consists in the construction and novel arrangement of devices, all as hereinafter set forth, and point-ed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A designates a common T-coupling for gaspipe, and B is a short length of pipe or tubing connected to one end thereof.

0 represents an iron rod threaded at its ends, as indicated at e and g, but having its intermediate portion 7% squared.

H represents an interior bridge seat or holder, which is formed with an opening through which theupper end of the rod G extends upward, its main length extending downward through the tube B and projecting beyond the open end or mouth K of said tubing. On the rod 0 is provided a shoulder or stop Z, which engages the under side of the bridge-seat, and the rod is held to said bridge-seat by means of the. nut m, which engages the threaded portion e of the rod above the bridge-seat, asshown. In the lower end of the tube is provided a guide n, through which the rod 0 extends and which holds the rod axially true in the tube. On the threaded lower end of the rod are placed the adjusting-nut P and the locking-nut R.

A collar-valve V is placed 011 the rod 0 below the lower end of the tube B, said valve having sufficient spread to engage the mouth.

of the tube B when drawn up against the same. The lip of the tube at its mouth and the adjacent surface of the valve V are ground true. A spring S is placed between the valve V and the adjusting-nut 'P. The I valve V, although neatly fitting the rod 0, is adjustable thereon, being supported in position by the spring S, which is held up by the nut P.

The trap is designed to be located outside the car or apartment in which the steamheating pipes are placed, said pipes connecting with the T-coupling, as at U, and the water of condensation passes off through the trap.

The operation is as follows: When the steam is turned into the pipes, it condenses very rapidly on account of the low temperature of the pipes and passes off through the expansion-tube. When the steam strikes the tube, it will elongate and will close against the valve, shutting off the escape of the Water. 'As soon, however, as the Water collects in the closed tube its temperature becomes lower and it contracts away from the valve, so that the water escapes. In this 7 manner it works automatically. The spring allows for any inequality of pressure of the tube against the valve, and also serves to regulate the amount of steam-pressure inthe pipes. The nut can be set to regulate this pressure, so that if it is exceeded the steam will escape at the end of the tube. It is therefore a safety-valve for the steampipes and effectually prevents their bursting.

Having described this invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. In an expansion-trap for steam-heating o pipes, the tube B, terminating in the open mouth K, the axial rod 0 within said tube and p-roj ecting beyond said mouth, the valve V, connected to the projecting end of said rod, the tension-spring S, and the regulatingnut P, substantially as specified.

2. An expansion-trap for steamheating In testimony whereof I affixmy signature in pipes, consisting of the tube B, having an presence of Witnesses. 1 open end and within said tube an axial rod 0, 1 r i r secured by an interior holder and projecting h REDERIM B0 FSFORD' 5 through a guide beyond the open end of the Witnesses:

tube, the valve on the end of the pipe, the TM. P. HAYES, spring, and the i-egulnlting'nnt, substantially (l. B. HAYES,

FRED L. ALBRAOHT.

as specified. 

